Bali is something of a dream destination for many people and one of the ways to enjoy paid time on the island is to become one of its English teachers.
It’s worth noting that it’s not as easy to teach abroad as it once was, and getting a teaching job in Bali is no exception.
Our guide to teaching English in Bali will explain everything you need to know if you want to teach English on the island. Don’t pack your bags just yet. Make sure you have all the boxes ticked before you leave for this wonderful tropical paradise.
Is Bali A Good Place To Teach English?
Teaching jobs aren’t for everyone and Bali won’t be for every English teacher, either.
Before you start applying for teaching jobs, we would recommend that you carefully weigh up both the pros and cons of coming here to teach English.
The Pros Of Teaching English In Bali
There are plenty of benefits to working here on the island and they include:
Balinese culture – the local community is one of the most welcoming and kind groups on Earth. You will always be received with warmth and compassion and there’s a deep and fascinating Hindu culture on the island to learn about too.
Location – if you’re looking to travel further abroad, Bali is a great base to explore Australia, New Guinea, the Pacific Islands, Malaysia and, of course, the other Indonesian islands from.
Contractual security – generally speaking all foreign workers, not just English teachers, in Bali are given 12-month contracts. Usually, as long as you perform your duties satisfactorily, the contract will be automatically extended for another year (and then another and another, etc.).
Short working hours – most people who teach English aren’t working long hard days. 20-25 hours is the usual commitment that English teachers are expected to make and that usually includes all your classroom prep time.
Access to things to do – the island has amazing food, it has surfing, yoga, watersports and dozens of other activities, you can see volcanoes, or explore jungle temples and monkey forests. Nobody who comes to teach English in Bali is ever bored.
The Cons Of Teaching English On The Island
However, we can’t pretend that coming to teach English in Bali isn’t without its drawbacks either:
The wages aren’t great – in fact, compared to teaching English at home, the wages are terrible. On average you can expect to be paid $650-$1,050 a month. The good news is that living can be cheap here, but you won’t see your bank account grow very much while you work here.
Competition – there is a lot of competition to work in Bali. Everybody loves Bali after they visit, Balinese culture is very appealing and the conditions on the island are very pleasant. That means if you want to teach English here, you need to bring your A-Game or your competitors will leave you in the dust.
The climate – hot all year round is lovely, if you enjoy being hot and humid. On an English teacher’s salary, running the air-conditioning is something of a luxury. And in the rainy season, classrooms can be hot, sticky and unpleasant all day long too.
- Qualifications – not everybody is qualified to teach English in Bali as we’ll see in the next section. It’s not the easiest place to teach abroad.
What Qualifications Are Required For Teaching English In Bali?
So, what does it take to teach English in Bali and what kind of skills will you need, at a minimum, to get a job here?
Teaching English As A Foreign Language (TEFL) Certification
If you want to be an ESL Teacher (English as a Second Language) you will at a bare minimum need to have passed a TEFL course.
We’d recommend that if you want to have any hope of being offered a job to teach English in Bali, that you opt for a minimum of a 120-hour TEFL course.
This is often the bare minimum TEFL Certificate that employers will accept and the course can be completed full-time in 3 weeks or over a period of 6 months
If you want to give your resume a boost, you might consider an advanced TEFL course that shows that you’re serious about teaching English abroad and have mastered lesson planning, etc.
Do You Need To Be A Graduate For Teaching Positions In Bali?
Yes. You have no chance of immersing yourself in the local culture of this beautiful island or teaching Balinese students if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree of some kind.
Some schools, particularly international schools, may expect you to hold a degree in English or Education to work as an ESL teacher.
Yes, it turns out that working in the English language sector here isn’t as easy as it used to be and that even getting a job in the language schools or an elementary school is a real challenge.
A bachelor’s degree is a minimum requirement for the visa requirements set out by the Indonesian government and without a bachelor’s degree, you can’t get a visa for any sector.
Experience
Yes, teaching abroad experience is often required and several language schools ask that you have three or more years of experience to teach English in Bali.
Other places will expect you to have other skills such as having previously worked with young children or adult learners. One very useful skill to land a job to teach English in Bali is to have helped people pass the IELTS framework.
Perhaps, the good news regarding this is that you will only be expected to speak the English language, and you won’t be expected to master Bahasa Indonesia before you join a school or other employer.
Visa Eligibility
If you though that the hard work was out of the way, there’s now a huge barrier to entry waiting for you.
As you’d expect you will need all the paperwork demonstrating your educational background, and a criminal background check.
What you might not expect is that Indonesia requires that people delivering an English language education to be natives of the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
By “native speaker” they don’t actually mean you have to have grown up in these places, they do mean – you must carry a passport from one of these countries.
No passport? No visa.
You will also need health insurance to land a visa and while most schools will provide this as part of your visa application process, some expect you to deal with it.
Worse, some schools will also try and get you to pay for the visa process – this is expensive and there’s no guarantee of getting accepted.
We’d strongly urge you to negotiate this during the interview process and make it clear that you expect a future employer to take on this burden.
The good news is if you do pay and you get accepted, you will usually get the costs back.
Some schools may also provide airfares and even free housing.
What Kind Of Salary Do You Get For A Job Teaching English In Bali?
The average salary, as we go to press, of an English teacher in Bali is roughly $892 a month.
The best-paid positions might stretch as high as $1,250 with the exception of teaching in an international school with real teaching qualifications as opposed to taking on TEFL jobs which can pay much more money.
What’s The Cost Of Living In Bali?
The overall cost of living can be very low. However, this is generally true outside of the popular tourist towns.
While it’s still possible to find a room and have all your billds covered for $150-$300 a month, you will struggle to find anything close in Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta, etc.
The good news is that some schools will provide accommodation and if they do, it goes a long way to helping with your cash flow.
Other than that, living costs are relatively low. A meal can be bought for $1-$2 if you eat locally. A month’s smartphone data will set you back around $6. And so on…
You may not be able to save a fortune, but you will earn enough to do some exploring on weekends.
What Employers Are There With English Teaching Jobs In Bali?
The final question then becomes one of where to find work and what you can expect if you do.
Local Schools?
Public schools aren’t the best employers in Bali for foreigners. You will find that the salaries are low, there are almost no perks and that they prefer to use local teachers familiar with local customs.
If this is your first assignment overseas, you probably want to skip these places and if it’s not, you already know to skip them.
Private And International Schools
These schools tend to prefer actual teachers rather than people with ESL certification.
However, they often hire assistants to aid with teaching English and they provide a decent salary (for Bali), benefits and fair working conditions.
Language Schools
The biggest employment sector for ESL teachers is always the language schools. However, there’s no doubt that many of the employers in this sector are corner cutters and cost cutters.
Make sure you have a legal work visa before starting any job in this sector or you may find that you don’t even get paid for the work that you do.
Tourism Industry
The tourism industry desperately needs language skills and they’re willing to pay for it.
Some of the bigger employers have full-time teaching staff who can help their adult learners develop their skills.
These employers probably won’t pay as well as some of the other employers but if you want a chance of developing your career into an alternative role – the tourism industry is where you stand the best chances.
FAQs
How Much Do You Make Teaching English In Bali?
The money isn’t great and the best you can expect in most English teaching roles in Bali is about $1,000 a month (USD).
However, international schools can pay more for fully qualified teachers (that is you’re qualified to teach children in a wide range of subjects and aren’t just an ESL teacher).
This can be offset, to some extent, by the cost of living in Bali but it’s something to consider before you start applying for work.
Which Country Pays Best For English Teachers?
The states around the Arabian Gulf tend to offer higher salaries for English teachers when compared to other nations.
However, we would note that these places are often more expensive to live in and in the cases of countries like Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia they can be very restrictive places to work in too.
Teaching English overseas is often a trade-off between earning potential and visiting a country where you want to immerse yourself in the culture.
Will An English Teaching Position In Bali Lead To Other Job Opportunities?
We have to level with you, English language teachers aren’t generally held in high esteem by expatriates. It was not so long ago when anyone who was white and spoke English could get one of these jobs and the quality of individuals teaching English in Bali or anywhere overseas wasn’t great.
It’s not impossible for you to find other opportunities here on the island, but native English speakers aren’t in high demand unless they have other skills such as experience in hospitality or manufacturing.
If you do intend to use teaching English language as a springboard to working in other industries, you will need to get out and network while you work in Bali.
It’s possible that your future employer is about to walk into one of the country’s language centers but it’s unlikely. And as with TEFL jobs, other jobs in Bali are highly sought after because the island is such a nice place to live and work – so expect serious competition for any position.
How Much Does A Foreign Teacher Earn In Indonesia?
A lot depends on where you teach, what you teach and which employer you teach for. There’s less competition for jobs in much of the Indonesian archipelago than there is in Bali and some places in Indonesia are straight-up hardship posts.
You would probably earn from $1,000-$1,500 with a TESOL certification or the like, but a fully skilled teacher with a Post Graduate certificate might make much more working in private and international schooling.
How Can I Become An English Teacher In Indonesia?
As you can see from our list above, you will need a degree, a TEFL qualification, the right nationality, experience teaching and a visa.
Assuming you can bring all these things to the table, you should have no problem finding teaching jobs in Indonesia.
Final Thoughts On Teaching English In Bali
Teaching the English language in developing countries used to be an easy job that could be carried out by anyone.
Today, this isn’t the case and you may need previous teaching experience, a certificate from a teach English online TEFL course or classroom course, and other skills just to land job in a language school.
All this for an average salary might sound like too much hard work but the truth is that there’s a lot of competition for this job location and the prize for landing work here is to enjoy the vibrant culture, local cuisine, traditional arts, and much more.
Daily life in Bali is doable on an English teacher’s salary and helping people learn is a reward all of its own.
